Only the dreamer knows it

Exhibition Text (from MOCA Toronto)

Matt Nish-Lapidus uses rhythm, time, and memory to conceptualize the affective resonances left by the people, objects, and stories of a particular place. In this instance, the place is the building you are currently visiting. As a long-time resident of Toronto, Nish-Lapidus has had numerous encounters and holds many memories of this industrial building before MOCA occupied the space.

The audio track on the first floor alludes to these resonances by interjecting rhythms and loops onto various field recordings from the neighbourhood. The chord progression from the melodic audio on the second floor creates a science-fiction atmosphere which reminisces on past memories and possible futures. As one progresses up the stairwell, Nish-Lapidus disrupts the melody with rhythmic beats that echo from the highest speakers. These disruptions, encountered on the third floor landing, speak to differing perceptions of reality and literal disruptions from the construction in the neighbourhood.

The title of this sound piece, Only the dreamer knows it – is an adaptation of a line from the novel, Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin: “‘Did you ever happen to think, Dr. Haber,…that there, there might be other people who dream the way I do? That reality’s being changed out from under us, replaced, renewed, all the time—only we don’t know it? Only the dreamer knows it, and those who know his dream. If that’s true, I guess we’re lucky not knowing it.’”